United
by captainwii
Summary: For a long time, Pac-man longed to be reunited with his parents, but while doing recon on the Pointy Heads, he found someone, he never expected to find. some chapters have been rewritten.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Out in space, Pac-Man was piloting the Lemon Rocket roughly half a light-second away from Pac-World

"Pac, my boy," Sir Cumference said through Pac-Man wrist communicator, "Have you found anything yet?"

"Nope, nothing yet," Pacster replied, "Not sure why you got me out there though, Apex and the Pointy Heads haven't tried to invade Pac-World in a while."

"True, but I've been detecting Pointy Head ships flyin' all over our solar system," Sir C stated, " Why would they be running around this much yet ignore us altogether? I think they must be looking for something."

"Think it might have something to do with my parents?" Pac-Man asked hopefully.

"It's possible, I guess," Sir C replied with some reluctance, "But…"

"Hold up, Sir C," Pac-Man interrupted, "I think I see something up ahead, I'm coming in for a closer look."

Sir C breathed a faint sigh of relief, but Pac-Man didn't notice as he approached a strange silhouette, he eventually got close enough to see what was up ahead.

It was a Pointy Head mothership!

…..

…..

But it wasn't going anywhere, and it looked abandoned.

"Sir C, I found a Pointy Head mothership," Pac-Man said, "But it looks like it's been abandoned, and from the outside it doesn't look like anyone's in it, think maybe that's what the Pointy Heads are looking for?"

"Seems that way," Sir C agreed, "Try one of the new sensor mods I installed on the Lemon Rocket."

"Good idea, I'll start with the thermal sensors," Pac-Man said as he pushed a few buttons on the Lemon Rocket's control panel and looked at a screen showing a thermal-gram of the mothership, "That's weird, most of the ship is a little cold, including the ship's drive core, that silver saucer hasn't flown anywhere in a whi- wait a sec…"

"Something came up?" Sir C asked.

"There's two heat signatures in the ship," Pac-Man answered.

"Just two?" Sir C asked, "Well that's pretty bizarre, maybe they're stranded."

"Maybe…" Pac-Man said in agreement, "I'd better investigate, I'm gonna board that ship."

"Alright, but be careful," Sir C warned, "If the Pointy Heads are looking for this ship, they probably won't be far behind."

Pac-Man flew in close to one of the ship's airlocks, he exited the Lemon Rocket and floated in close enough to the airlock to pry it open with his gloved hands briefly enough climb into the ship's interior and allowed the airlock to automatically close itself behind him.

After boarding the mothership, Pac-Man began his search for the people on board by walking down the hallway, he noticed most of the ship's interior was just barely lit up and it felt very cold, he couldn't help but hug himself to help keep warm.

The atmosphere of this place also made Pac-Man more than a little nervous, he didn't know exactly what he was going to find here. He suddenly heard a faint crackling sound and froze, he noted to himself he heard the sound to his left and promptly turned there to find an open doorway.

He entered the doorway and found, to his surprise, a small bonfire in the middle of a small room, with a small crate placed close to the bonfire and a pile of blankets on the far left corner of the room.

Pac-Man opened up his wrist communicator, "Well, Sir C, I found the first heat source I saw earlier, turns out it's just a fire. Whoever's living here must be trying to keep warm."

"So we've only got one person living on this ship?" Sir C asked, "Now I'm really wondering what happened to the rest of the ship's crew. Better keep your guard up."

"I will, and I'll keep you posted," Pac-Man assured, "Pac out."

As he hanged up, Pac-Man suddenly felt something metal and pointy poking his back. Pac-Man raised his hands up in reflex.

Pac-Man heard a young voice from behind him say "Turn around slowly."

Pacster did what his would-be captor told him and turned around.

The Yellow Orb teen saw what might be the last thing he expected to see.

He was looking at another Pac-Worlder! And another Yellow Orb at that! Except this Pac-Worlder was much shorter and younger than him and was wearing beau blue gloves and shoes, and from the longer eyelashes and the orange-colored hair tied into a short ponytail with a beau blue hair ribbon, Pac-Man could tell she was a female Yellow Orb.

That same little Yellow Orb girl was pointing a Pointy Head laser rifle at Pac-Man.

The two Yellow Orbs stared at each other, though the Yellow Orb girl was looking at Pac-Man more cautiously.

Pac-Man's head was practically spinning at the sight of that girl, but something that stuck out to Pac-Man was her eyes, she had the same blue eyes as him, He found the resemblance too uncanny. The Yellow Orb girl was clearly surprised as well, but seemingly for different reasons.

 _Her being another Yellow Orb's surprising enough,_ Pac-Man thought, _but the way she looks reminds me of them, I wonder….._

"Is… is this a trick?" the Yellow Orb girl asked, "No… it can't be. is this possible? Are… are you real?"

"Oh, don't worry," Pac-Man reassured the girl, trying to be friendly, "I'm real enough."

"Just…. Who are you?" the girl asked, actually getting more frantic "How did you find this ship?"

"Name's Pac," Pac-Man answered as he lowered his hands, "And please, calm down, I'm not here to hurt you."

The Yellow Orb girl hesitated, but gave a look of startled realization as she lowered her weapon, "Wait, your name's Pac?"

"Yeah? I'm guessing you heard my name before?" Pac asked.

The girl thought for a moment, then asked, "Are your parents named Zac and Sunny, by any chance?"

Pac-Man quickly caught on to where the Yellow Orb girl was going and proudly said, "Yep! And I'm gonna take a wild guess that they're your parents as well?"

"Yeah.. But how'd you figure that out so quickly?" the Yellow Orb girl asked.

"Come on, you're not only yellow, but you got Mom's hair, and you got Dad's eyes like me," Pac replied, "Even someone as dumb as Betrayus could see the resemblance, and if we have the same parents, then that would mean…."

"Well, you've already caught on," The Yellow Orb girl cracked a grin as she holstered her weapon, Pac-Man noticed that the girl smiled like she hasn't smiled in a long time, "So I won't beat around the bush, my name is Pac-Ella, and yes, I'm your little sister."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I..have a sister…." Pac-Man said to himself, letting the revelation sink-in, "Wow! That's….. that's awesome!"

Pac-Ella was caught off-guard when Pac suddenly picked her up and spinned her around joyously.

"I spent all my life trying to figure out where Mom and Dad are," Pac-Man said "But I never thought in million years I'd be a big brother as well, this is the happiest moment in my life!"

After putting Pac-Ella back down, Pac went down on his knees so that he'd on the same eye level.

"But before I forget, I should ask you something," Pac said with hopeful eyes, "Do you know where our parents are?"

Pac-Ella scratched the back of her head somewhat nervously and said sadly, "Sorry, Pac, but I don't know where they are, I haven't seen them since I turned 3. We got separated when the Pointy Heads attacked us and captured me while we were hiding out on an uncharted planet. I've got no clue to where they are now."

Pac-Man was a little disappointed, but brushed it off and kept up a warm smile for his newfound sister's sake.

"Ah, don't fret about it," Pac-Man said, "The important thing now is that we found each other."

"If it helps," Pac-Ella said, "I remember that they did talk about you quite a bit, they felt bad you had to grow up without them, and they're also hoping we'll eventually all be together as a family someday."

Pac-Man placed his hands on Pac-Ella's shoulders, "I hope so too, but in the meantime, at least the two of us are together."

Pac-Ella smiled, she seemed both pleased and relieved that his long-lost big brother was being so understanding.

"But how'd you wind up alone in this ship?" Pac-Man asked.

"It's a long story," Pac-Ella replied, then motioned Pac to join her by the fire, she picked up an extra metal crate and placed it near the bonfire so that she and Pac could both sit down by the fire, which they did.

"Remember when I brought up a few seconds ago that the Pointy Heads captured me when I was three?" Pac-Ella asked, "Well, ever since then, they took over raising me, as their prisoner."

"They put you in prison?" Pac asked worryingly.

"Well, they called it more of an indoor zoo," Pac-Ella replied, "my cage was a small room with a cold plasma barrier, hundreds of Pointy Head guards, and some of the most advanced security systems in the known galaxy standing between me and freedom. I was locked up here with several people from dozens of different planets that the Pointy Heads have conquered. As far as the Pointy Heads were concerned, we were animals and whenever visitors come to see us, we're expected to act like animals."

Pac gave a look of stunned silence, he was horrified to hear that his sister had to go through all that.

"How long have you been through this?" Pac asked.

"Well, I'm six years old now, and I've been locked up by those squids since I was 3, so that means I've been a zoo animal for 3 years," Pac-Ella answered, "But that's not even the worst part."

Pac braced himself, he knew he wasn't gonna like what he was about to hear.

"Aside from being tourist attractions, I and my fellow zoo-inmates were sometimes put through some crazy experiments, daily DNA harvesting, getting injected with experimental stuff, that kind of thing. And we'd get shocked into submission whenever we resisted even the slightest, though I guess I was lucky that I actually rarely had to go through any of that up until a month ago."

"A month ago?" Pac-Man asked, "That's funny, the last time the Pointy Heads tried to invade Pac-World was a month ago, but luckily my friends and I drove them out, and they've been trying to invade us for quite a while."

"Yeah, I heard about how you've managed to defeat the Pointy Heads several times," Pac-Ella said, "I figured that had to be why I got more attention from my squidy wardens. They tried to experiment on me in hopes of finding a weakness they could use on you. But since I was their only Yellow Orb guinea pig, they had to be careful enough that they avoided anything that could immediately kill me."

"So what made the Pointy Heads put you in this ship?" Pac-Man asked.

"I don't know all the details," Pac-Ella replied, "But while I was escorted out of my cell and into that ship, I overheard some passing guards talking with Apex about sending me to another planet to be trained. For what? I don't know, but I wasn't big on finding out, so once the ship flew off into space, I planned a takeover."

"You mean you're the reason the ship's crew is gone?" Pac asked, surprised and amazed, "How'd you pull that off?"

Pac-Ella grinned proudly and pointed her right thumb at herself before saying, "You're looking at a girl who spent 3 years trying to escape an alien zoo. It was hard at first, but eventually I figured out the ins and outs of Pointy Head security and have gotten pretty good at breaking out of my jail cell. Granted, I always eventually got caught, and guards always bombard me with shock batons for one or two minutes before they throw me back into my cell, and while I kept getting closer to being home-free with every escape attempt, I never made it as far as to escape that zoo entirely. But once I got on this ship, all I needed to do was break out of the space jail cell they put me in and then hotwire the ship's circuitry to open all the ship's airlocks. Heh, those squids didn't know what hit 'em, or more specifically, what sucked them into space."

"Wow!" Pac exclaimed with amazement, "Taking over an alien ship, I'm impressed! I bet my friends in Pac-World are gonna love to meet you."

"And after some trial and error, I even figured out how to fly the ship," Pac-Ella said "But it ran out of fuel after a few lightyears, which is why I got stranded here for about a week, scrounging up whatever I could find. Speaking of which, I think it's my turn to ask you something; how'd you find this ship?"

"Oh, my friend Sir Cumference detected patrols of Pointy Heads flying around our solar system," Pac-Man said, but then realized something, "which is exactly where you are, which means…"

"Sweet mother of Galaga!" Pac-Ella exclaimed in shock as she stood up, "they've tracked me here!"

She quickly ran up to Pac and went down on her knees in a begging stance.

"Please tell me you have a way outta here!" Pac-Ella begged in a panicking state, "I don't know what they'll do to me if I'm caught again, I don't want to know! I can't stand the thought of being their prisoner again! I-"

Pac-Ella was surprised when Pac-Man suddenly pulled her into a tight hug to comfort her.

"It's okay, it's okay," Pac-Man whispered to his sister, "they're not here, but I'm here, and I promise I won't let them take you. You won't have to be afraid of them again, okay?"

Pac-Ella took a long, deep breath, then eventually hugged Pac back. After a few seconds of sibling affection, they finally released each other."

"Good, now don't worry, I got the Lemon Rocket outside," Pac-Man said, "It's more than ready to take us both back to Pac-World, and I'm willing to bet we'll be long gone by the time the Pointy Heads find this ship. So how 'bout it, sis? Wanna see your home planet?"

Pac-Ella gave a joyous smile, "Seeing the big brother I've never known and finding out he's everything I've hoped and dreamed he'd be like? That's already awesome. And now I get to be with you to Pac-World? I've got only two words for that; HECK. YEAH!"

"That's the spirit!" Pac-Man exclaimed, then took his sister's hand, "let's go home."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sure enough, Pac-Man and Pac-Ella boarded the Lemon Rocket and flew away from the Pointy Head mothership without any Pointy Heads around to see or follow them.

While Pac was driving the Lemon Rocket, Pac-Ella was standing behind Pac's seat looking out through the windshield. She saw Pac-World up ahead.

"This is Pac-World?" Pac-Ella asked, "Somehow it's a little more…. Colorful than I was expecting."

"Heh, you're looking at only the tip of the iceberg," Pac-Man smirked, "You're gonna love Pac-World, especially Pacopolis, we got some of the best food, best malls, and best sights to see on the planet."

"Hey, as long as I'm not playing tourist trap in an alien zoo-prison," Pac-Ella playfully snarked, "Pac-World can be a junkyard planet and I'd still be happy."

Pac-Man chuckled, "I guess that's true, though that reminds me, I better ring up Sir C. Can you hide behind the chair? I want this to be a surprise."

"Uh, sure," Pac-Ella kept herself hidden behind Pac's chair and kept quiet.

Pac-Man opened up his wrist communicator and contacted Sir Cumference.

"Pac, my boy!" Sir C greeted, "I see you already left the ship. Did you find whoever was on that ship?"

"Oh yeah," Pac replied, "I found…something, but I think it'll be easier if I show you."

"Well now, you're being a wee bit vague on me," Sir C commented with a grin, "But alright, I'll play along, meet you at the lab."

"You got it, see you in a bit," Pac-Man hanged up, then dialed in Spiral and Cylindria, who both answered their wrist communicators, "Hey Spiral, Hey Cyli."

"Yo there, Pacster!" Spiral greeted, "How was the space adventure?"

"It was a lot of fun," Pac replied, "Say, can you two meet me at Sir C's lab? I found something I want to show you both."

"Sure thing, Pac," Cylindria replied, "see you there."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," Pac said, then hanged up.

Exactly twenty minutes later…

Sir C was in his lab working on a new invention when he heard the door open, he turned around and saw Pac-Man entering the lab.

"Hey there, Pac!" Sir C greeted, "Glad you're back. Now, you said you found something?"

Pac-Man nodded and strangely said, "you can come out from behind me, he's not gonna bite."

Pac-Ella slowly sidestepped a few times to come out from behind Pac-Man to reveal herself to Sir C.

Needless to say, Sir C looked as though his jaw was about to drop.

"Sir C, I'd like you to meet my newly-found sister, Pac-Ella. Pac-Ella? Sir C," Pac introduced.

"Well shrivel me up and call me a raisin!" Sir C exclaimed cheerfully, "I never thought Zac and Sunny had any more kids since they went missing. Pleasure to meet ya!"

Pac-Ella, much to Pac-Man's surprise, was simply looking at Sir C somewhat nervously, then asked, "You knew Mom and Dad?"

"Indeed I have!" Sir C replied, "we've been really good friends for a long time. In fact, you almost look like your mom when she was much younger."

"Uh, thanks," Pac-Ella said.

 _Weird,_ Pac-man thought, _she warmed up to me pretty quickly when she learned who I was, but then, we are family. Plus, she's been through quite a rough patch and everything about Pac-World is new to her. I should keep that in mind._

Both Pac-Man and Pac-Ella heard the door open. Pac-Ella instinctively jumped and as Pac-Man turned to see who was entering the lab, she hid behind her brother. Pac-Man saw his friends Spiral and Cylindria entering the lab.

"Yo! Pacster! My man!" Spiral greeted, "Seems we made it just in time."

"Speaking of which," Cylindria said, "Who's that hiding behind you?"

Pac-Man faintly heard his sister mumble to herself, "Shoot." Pac-Ella then slowly moved out from behind Pac-Man again, this time without Pac-Man needing to talk her into it.

"Huh, awfully jumpy, ain't she?" Sir C commented.

"Hey guys, you're not gonna believe this," Pac-Man said, "Let me introduce you to Pac-Ella, who, as it turns out, is my little sister!"

Spiral and Cylindria were shocked and amazed.

"Whoa, first your parents went missing, now you found out you have a sister?" Spiral asked, "Wow…"

"Where has she been all this time, anyway?" Cylindria asked.

"Turns out the Pointy Heads held her captive for 3 years, but she managed to escape," Pac-Man replied, deciding to give his friends the short version of what Pac-Ella told him, "I found her stuck in a Pointy Head ship she hijacked that ran out of fuel, stranded in space a couple hundred thousand miles from Pac-World."

"Wow, talk about a lucky break," Spiral commented.

"Lucky is right," Pac agreed, "Pointy Heads were flying around our system looking for her, they might've recaptured her if I haven't found her first."

Pac-Ella shivered at the thought, "I don't even want to think about it, I just hope they don't track me here and take me back."

Cylindria walked up to Pac-Ella and tussled her hair, "Don't worry, we've beaten back the Pointy Heads before, you'll be safe with us in Pac-World."

"Well, I hope you're right…." Pac-Ella said with reluctance in her voice.

The gang heard another door open, they saw Grinder enter the lab.

"Hey there, Grinder!" Sir C greeted, "you came in just in time to greet our new friend here-"

Sir C cut himself off when he saw that Pac-Ella was gone, Pac-Man, Spiral, and Cyli looked around in confusion when they also noticed Pac-Ella was missing.

Before any of them could ask themselves where the six-year-old Yellow Orb was, that question was almost immediately answered when they heard some metallic rummaging.

The group turned around to see Pac-Ella was standing behind Grinder with his back panel pried open and Pac-Ella appearing to be fiddling with something inside Grinder's inner workings.

As a result, the top of Grinder's head opened and a disco ball popped up and started spinning around.

"Shoot, and I was hoping to just disable the treads," Pac-Ella responded, she noticed the four older Pac-Worlders looking at her and chuckled nervously, "Uh sorry, reflex, the prison I went to had drones similar to this guy patrolling the hallways, always had to disable them quickly if I didn't want to be caught."

Sir C whistled, "Wow, Pac, you didn't say your sister's a bit tech-savvy as well."

Pac-Ella was confused by this response, "You're not angry I messed with your robot?"

"Eh, No meltdown, no foul," Sir C replied as he walked up to Grinder, "Besides, stuff like this happens to him more times than you think."

Sir C began rewiring Grinder's wiring back to normal, "There, that oughta fix that."

Grinder glared at Pac-Ella, though not out of anger but exasperation, and wheeled off.

"Say, if you like, I bet I can make a good techie out of you," Sir C offered.

"I just got here and already I'm being offered job training?" Pac-Ella asked then lightly snarked, "The other prisoners back in the Pointy Head home-world wish they had this kind of parole. But seriously, I'll think about it, I want to feel safe knowing for certain I'll be able to actually stay on this planet first."

Sir C nodded, "Fair enough."

"Well, before we do anything else," Pac-Man said as he went up to his sister, "I think we should help you get settled in. Come on sis, I already texted Aunt Spheria, she's gonna love to meet you."

"Aunt Spheria?" Pac-Ella asked confusingly, "Who's she?"

Pac simply chuckled, "Oh, you'll see…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A few hours later, we find Pac-Man, Spiral, Cylindria, and of course little Pac-Ella, just in front of the door to Spheria's apartment.

As Pac-Man opened the door and walked into the apartment, he called out, "Aunt Spheria! We're here!"

"Hang on, I'm comin'," Spheria called out.

Pac, Spiral, Cylindria, and Pac-Ella saw Spheria arrive to the door.

"Always great to see you an' yer friends, Pac!" Spheria greeted, she then noticed Pac-Ella hiding behind Pac-Man, "And I'm guessin' you're Pac-Ella, yer big brother texted me ahead that he'd be bringing you over."

The small Yellow Orb Girl slinked back behind Pac-Man.

"She's a might shy, ain't she?" Spheria noted.

"Yeah," Pac agreed "that's actually why I texted you ahead of time about her. With how nervous she's been toward Cyli, Spiral, and Sir C, I figured we should move things along to make things easier for everyone, herself included."

"Ah, well, no sense keeping you all standing at the door," Spheria motioned the four youths to come inside, "Come on in! I just bought pizza."

Both Pac-Man and Spiral looked at each other with excitement and both said in joy, "Pizza?-! Alright!"

The two boys both ran into the apartment practically at light speed. Pac-Ella frantically followed her big brother inside.

Cylindria and Spheria calmly entered the kitchen to find Pac, Spiral, and Pac-Ella were already sitting in the table.

Oddly enough, while Pac and Spiral were already chowing down on their slices, Pac-Ella simply gazed at the pizza slice in front of her, she looked almost as though she was being hypnotized. The Yellow Orbed little girl found the mere scent and sight of the pizza slice as alien as it was overwhelmingly enticing.

"Hey there, little lady," Spheria called out, "Don't let the boys beat you to the punch, dig right in!"

Pac-Ella instinctively ate up her pizza slice in a single chomp…

…along with her plate….

…..and a small chunk of the table.

Needless to say, everyone in the room was shocked and surprised by this, except for Spheria, who simply grinned in amusement.

"Whoa, I've seen Pacster here eat in some crazy ways," Spiral said, "But that was just a little…. overboard."

Pac-Ella looked at what she's done with shock and amazement, "How in the… I didn't even know I could do that!"

Spheria chuckled, surprisingly amused and unbothered with what she just witnessed, "Neither did Pac, until he grew teeth, and you'd be surprised with what he's taken a bite out of."

Pac scratched the back of his head and chuckled with nervous embarrassment.

Once pizza was finished, everyone took up hanging around in the living room. Pac-Man and Pac-Ella stood in front of a sofa that Spheria, Spiral, and Cylindria were sitting on and spent a good while explaining Pac-Ella's situation, from her getting separated from their parents by a Pointy Head attack, to being held captive by the Pointy Heads, to her eventual escape and rescue thanks to Pac-Man.

"…And that brings me to why I brought her here," Pac ended, "Since you're the only other family Pac-Ella has in Pac-World aside from me, I was hoping…."

Spheria grinned, "You don't even need to ask. Of course I'll look after her! Might be a little tough helping her get over the whole shrinking violet thing she's got, but shouldn't be anything I can't handle."

Pac-Ella was surprised to hear this, she turned to her brother and said, "You mean I'm staying with her? I thought I'd be staying with you."

"Believe me, I'd like that too," Pac said, "But I'm still in my teens, I'm a little too young to take you in myself. And even if I wasn't, I don't think the staff would be happy with me bringing a six-year-old girl into a high school dorm."

Pac-Ella looked disappointed, and a little wary.

Pac thought for a moment, then had an idea. He turned to Spheria and asked, "Say Aunt Spheria, you remember that one story you told me from when you escaped being held captive?"

Pac-Ella suddenly looked at her brother in intrigue, than at her aunt.

Spiral and Cylindria simply looked at the scene with confusion.

Spheria, without skipping a beat, replied with, "Oh, you mean back in my Freedom Fighter days when Betrayus caught me scouting out his turf and held me in one of his base camps," Spheria shuddered, "I still remember he said some of the creepiest pick-up lines I've ever heard. He kept me under guard at gunpoint in his private tent"

Pac-Ella curiously asked, "How'd you escape?"

Spheria grinned, "It took me a few hours to get my chance, but while Betrayus wasn't around, I knocked out the guard while he was distracted by his cell phone ringing, took his uniform to disguise myself, and then hightailed outta here by hijacking a nearby pineapple tank."

Pac-Ella gave an excited smile, then turned to her brother, "Big brother, I can't believe I didn't know we had the coolest aunt ever! I changed my mind, I wanna stay with her!"

Pac breathed a sigh in relief and thought, _Good thing my sis takes pride in being a jailbreaker, even if saying that out of context might give someone the wrong idea. Regardless, at least I know my sis and Aunt Spheria are gonna get along great._

Pac-Man looked at the date on his wristwatch, then turned to his friends, "I hope you guys don't mind, but I plan on spending the weekend here with Aunt Spheria and my sis. I want to help her get used to living in Pac-World, you know?"

"No prob, bro," Spiral replied.

"Yeah, we'll even spend the weekend here with you," Cylindria offered, "That okay, Spheria?"

"Sure thing!" Spheria replied, "I've even got I guest room the three of you can use."

"And Pac-Ella can have my room," Pac said, "Most of my stuff's back in the dorm anyway, so it won't be a problem. Come on, Sis."

Pac-Man started escorting her sister to his room.

Meanwhile, in the Netherworld…

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?-!"

Betrayus' voice of rage and shock was heard by everyone in the Netherworld within a 10 mile radius.

The lord of the Netherworld looked at the screen in his throne room and saw Slug-Cam footage of Pac-Man showing his newly discovered little sister the room he was giving her.

"I can't believe it!" Betrayus angrily ranted, "As if that Pac-Pest didn't give me enough trouble by himself, now I find out Zac and Sunny had a daughter too? And she's now living in Pacopolis no less! This the worst news I've heard since the time my favorite soap opera got cancelled!"

"Indeed, another ghost-chomper in the neighborhood," Buttler deadpanned, "Now they come in the ankle-biting variety."

"Actually," Dr. Buttocks intervened, "Perhaps ve can turn zis to our advantage."

"I know what you're going to say," Betrayus said, "We capture that little girl to make Pac-Man give us the repository to get her back safely, right? Well forget it! Have you seen how that Pac-Pain seems to dote on her? We'd have an easier time performing dentistry on a ghost shark than we would at catching her without her brother interfering. Even if we do grab her without a fuss and even if we get everything we want out of taking her hostage, have you heard her story on the slug cam? If the Pointy Heads are after her, then it's only a matter of time before they start looking for her here in Pac-World, and goodness know having Apex and his cronies around would be a whole slew of problems I don't want to deal with."

Dr. Buttocks chuckled, "Actually, the fact that ze Yellow Orb Girl iz a Pointy Head fugitive iz part of ze plan."

Betrayus gave a confused look, "Come again?"

"Oh.. hoho, you'll want to listen carefully for zis one, your demonicness," Dr. Buttocks said, "Because I am willing to bet you'll like it no matter what the outcome."

Meanwhile, back on the deserted Pointy Head mothership…

Apex simply stood grimacing in the middle of the hallway while his soldiers searched up and down the vessel for what they lost.

"I should've known it was a mistake to bring her out of that prison-zoo," Apex said to himself, "But once we get her back, I'm do what I can to make her regret this as well as every other escape attempt she's tried to pull on us."

One of the Pointy Head soldiers walked up to Apex and stood at attention, "Sir, we've searched up and down the entire ship and still no sign of the Yellow Orb girl."

Apex sighed, "I was afraid of this. But this ship is out of fuel and isn't even close enough to orbit any planets, so there's no way she could've left on her own, which would mean….."

Apex gave a look of realization, "Of course! One of those Pac-Worlders must've picked her up, likely Pac-Man himself. Which means that by now she must be in Pac-World!"

Apex turned his attention to the soldier in front of him, "You there, tell my generals to prep a fleet for another attack on Pac-World."

The unnamed Pointy Head soldier saluted and said; "Yes, Sir!" then walked off.

Apex chuckled to himself sinisterly, "Enjoy your first time on your home planet while you can, Pac-Ella, because when I get here, your little vacation will be cut short."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was nighttime in Pacopolis. Pac-Ella was sitting near a window looking out at the city. Pac-Ella almost jumped when she heard footsteps heading her direction. She turned her chair to see Pac was behind her. The Yellow Orb girl sighed in relief.

"Couldn't sleep?" Pac asked.

"Yeah…" Pac-Ella admitted, "I couldn't help but think about everything that's happened to me today. I've been a Pointy-Head prisoner for three long years, I escape thanks to them putting me a spaceship that I managed to boot them out of, I get stranded in the depths of space only for you to show up and rescue me, and now I'm living on the same planet you and our parents were born in. I hope I don't sound ungrateful, cause I do appreciate everything you've been doing for me, but all this kinda almost feels too good to be true."

"Yeah, I guess if I were in your shoes I'd have a hard time believing what I'm getting too," Pac-Man admitted, "It's almost like you won the lottery."

"If it was a lottery I won, you were my ticket," Pac-Ella chuckled, "My hero; the big brother who found the long-lost sister he never knew he had…"

Pac-Ella's expression gradually changed to sadness before she turned back to the window.

"Though… it's a little ironic," Pac-Ella said, "You said you've been trying to find our parents for years, but as for me, ever since those Pointy Heads locked me up, I spent three years hoping Mom and Dad would find _me._ I spent years coming up with ways to escape that prison, yet I think one thing that kept me sane was the thought that even if I never escape on my own that Mom and Dad would come and get me out of that awful place. But… well, you know the rest."

"You're wondering why they didn't get to you first?" Pac-Man asked.

"I was locked up in a prison in the Pointy Head homeworld, I'm not stupid," Pac-Ella huffed slightly, "Even if we assume our parents knew exactly where I was, I don't see any easy way they could've gotten me out on their own. In hindsight, If the farthest I could go was only barely over the prison walls, I can understand if the odds are stacked against them."

"Wait, 'barely over the prison walls'?" Pac asked, "That's how far you got to escaping?"

"Yeah, that was I think it was just a week before I was flown off-world," Pac-Ella replied, "I just managed to find a high point where I could've jumped over the wall and onto a nearby rooftop outside the prison, I might've succeeded had that one oddly muscle-bound Pointy Head not grabbed me by the leg while I was in mid-jump. I think his name was Tip?"

"Hey! I met Tip a while ago!" Pac exclaimed, "He was pretty nice guy, especially considering who he's in league with."

"Oh, you know him? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. And to be fair, he was the only guard that was ever nice to me," Pac-Ella agreed, "Aside from him though, only the other prisoners ever gave me any sympathy, and the other guards at best either give me cold stares or jeer at me, and that's just on my good days."

"So who were the other prisoners?" Pac-Man asked.

"Mostly people from worlds the Pointy Heads have conquered," Pac-Ella replied, "Politicians, rebels, activists, pretty much anyone who tried to defy or undermine Apex's authority got an express trip to the slammer. There were actual criminals here as well, but they made up the minority of prisoners. I was the only kid among them, so I think you can guess what that's like for me."

Pac-Man decided to change the subject, "So… on a slightly unrelated note, you remember anything else about our parents? Or about that uncharted planet you said you were on?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much else to tell," Pac-Ella replied, "I was very little when I was with our parents, and we were almost constantly on the move, occasionally we'd stay with a small tribe of people for a couple of days before we head off somewhere else. As for the planet we were on, I vaguely remember it having a lot of grasslands with the occasional mountain and very few trees, but not much else. Heck, you see this hair ribbon I'm wearing? It was one of the birthday gifts mom and dad got me when I turned 3, and the only gift I was able to keep when the Pointy Heads captured me."

"Any idea why Mom and Dad were constantly moving around?" Pac-Man asked.

"Actually, kind of," Pac-Ella replied, "I was too young to understand most of what they said, but I sometimes overheard them talk about trying to evade… something, but I don't know what exactly, but I doubt it was the Pointy Heads, 'cause Mom and Dad seemed genuinely surprised when they attacked us. Sorry if it's not much to go on."

Pac-Man thought about what his sister said, then gave a look of realization when he exclaimed, "Actually, I think you just gave me a vital clue!"

Pac-Ella seemed surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah! Whenever I tried to find our parents, most leads I get on them end up turning out to be dead ends," Pac-Man stated, "But if they're on the run from someone, it would explain a lot of things, like why they fell off the grid, why no lead I find gets me anywhere with them, it even explains why you were born on a different planet. Our parents know I'm looking for them, so they might be worried whoever is chasing them could use me to track them down."

Pac-Ella thought for a moment, then realized something, "So you think in order to find them, we need to first find out who's hunting them and why?"

"Exactly!" Pac-Man exclaimed, "You might've just given us the break we needed. I'll have to look into this later, but hopefully we finally have what we need to actually start solving this mystery."

Pac-Ella was amazed, "Wow, I really never thought what little I knew would help you here. Now it seems like we both just won the lottery today."

"Does seems that way, doesn't it?" Pac-Man laughed as both he and his little sis look out at the window, "Well, whatever happens tomorrow, I promise I'll do my best to be the best big brother ever."

Pac-Ella grinned, "I think you already are."


End file.
